The Bank of England held off from more emergency support today as policymakers wait to see if the economy managed to grow in the first quarter.

The central bank kept its quantitative easing (QE) programme steady at £375 billlion, opting against more stimulus amid tentative signs that the economy is set to return to growth.

The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) also kept interest rates at their record low of 0.5% – where they have sat since March 2009.

Stronger-than-expected figures from the dominant services sector today lifted hopes that the economy grew between January and March. That would mean the UK narrowly avoids a triple-dip recession, and ease pressure on the Bank to pump more money into the economy.

However, some economists believe the Bank will need to resume QE in coming months as Britain’s anaemic recovery struggles to gain momentum.

Allan Monks, economist at JPMorgan Chase Bank, expects more action next month: "Given the weak euro area backdrop, we believe the UK data would need to improve more decisively to talk the MPC out of doing more next month."

The vote by the MPC’s nine members is likely to have been finely balanced.

Outgoing Bank Governor Sir Mervyn King and fellow rate-setters David Miles and Paul Fisher repeated calls for another £25 billion of QE at last month’s meeting, but were voted down over fears of the impact on the pound.

Stephen Gifford, CBI director of economics, said: "While muted growth prospects and international uncertainty will keep open the possibility of further QE, the persistence of above-target inflation may act as a bar to looser policy."

The Bank of Japan said today that it would massively expand the country’s money supply with a QE programme to create inflation and lift the country out of its long economic malaise.

It joins the Bank of England, the US Federal Reserve and other major central banks in pumping money into the economy with the aim of getting companies and households to increase spending and lift Japan’s stalled economy.

Britain’s economy was given a boost today when the closely-watched Markit/CIPS purchasing managers index showed better-than-expected performance in March from the services sector, which makes up more than three-quarters of the economy.

Services output showed a reading of 52.4 in March – above the 50 mark which separates expansion from contraction – and ahead of February’s 51.8 reading.

That lifted hopes the economy may have grown by 0.1% in the first quarter - reducing the need for the Bank to intervene with more stimulus. GDP shrank by 0.3% in the final three months of 2012.

The Bank has opted to pull different stimulus levers in recent months amid fears asset purchases are losing their punch.

A survey this week showed Funding for Lending – a joint Treasury and Bank of England scheme – is increasing availability of mortgages, plus cutting the cost of home loans.

But the Bank survey found corporate credit demand was "subdued", with a significant fall coming from smaller firms. However, appetite for loans is predicted to pick up across companies of all sizes in the next three months, particularly among large and small firms.